Nettles
by Autumn-Crystal
Summary: When Prince Bryant went hunting to escape court for a day he didn't know that the
1. Meetings

Sra - Hehe. I'm back and this time hopefully I will get time to work on my stories. For those of you who have been reading my other two stories they are both on hold and possibly I might be deleting 'A Message from The Past'. And this story is based off 'The Wild Swans' by HCS.  
  
As usual I do not own the characters in this story just the wonderful plot bunnies that bugged me until I wrote it. All of the characters belong to Hans Christian Anderson, the wonderful man who wrote so many children's fables. Dammit why can't the Prince be *my* character!  
  
Prince – Aww. I'm touched.  
  
Sra – You bet you are. Now are you going to start the story or do I need to bring Eliza in here?  
  
Prince – Damn. I mean...er...oh forget it.  
  
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Who would have thought that when my father told me to go hunting and take my mind off whatever maid I was pining after I would have found the love of my life? She's beautiful, kind, loving, and ... well I guess I should let you find out for yourself. My story takes place six months ago, during spring here in Keill.  
  
That spring had been one for Keill with a large crop of lambs and calves born and the new spring crop planted. I loved the land surrounding my castle home. The view of the rising sun over the distant mountains was breathtaking and one of the reasons I agreed to the hunting excursion. As Sir Humphrey would put it I was a "Damn nature lover" meaning that I didn't like to kill innocent creatures unless I was starving and there was no there choice. Not that I didn't eat meat, in fact I ate quite a bit of it. I just don't like killing the animal myself.  
  
As my hunting party came through a clearing I thought that I caught a flash of yellow. Reining in my horse I dismounted to investigate. Nothing could have prepared my for what I found; a girl near my own age who looked as if she had little food for several months, possibly years; clutching some homespun shirts like they were the crown jewels. She was obviously beautiful even under all the dirt and grime caked on her face and clothes.  
  
"Who are you?" I asked her. Damn my curiosity. "And what are you doing here?"  
  
She didn't reply. The look of plain fear on her face hurt me. Even more then the blow to my ego that she wouldn't talk to me. I took one of her hands and gently pulled her out of the cave to where my mounted guard was waiting. Watching her eyes carefully I gauged her reaction to so many people. She wasn't bothered much by the large crowd. I turned to my closest friend and most trusted knight.  
  
"Willi, could you ride back to the castle and tell my father that we found a girl in need of help and are heading back in order for her to receive medical attention?"  
  
He nodded and spurred his charger into a hard gallop. I trusted that he would do as I asked, after all I trusted him with my life. When he was out of sight my other knights gave my question looks. Ignoring them I pulled her up onto my bay hunter and kicked him into an easy jog. For a while she struggled and cried trying to get down and escape.  
  
I stopped my horse and turned the saddle so that I could face her. "Please, don't you know that I'm trying to help?" She nodded but did not speak. Gods, that was annoying. About as annoying as the fact that I was falling fast and hard for her. Think about that princess... what's her face, the one with the bulging eyes. Umm, Odessa I think that's it, no wait that's the maid I ran into last night. As we exited the woods I heard a small gasp behind me, and all I could do was smile. 


	2. untitled

Thank you to my wonderful reviewers!

**AznAngel:** Thank you for being my first reviewer! It's always nice to hear feedback! Hope you keep reading and that you enjoy this chapter, I put a lot of work into it.

**Bambi: **See I updated! And, of course he's riding a bay, I wrote this story! Thank you for reviewing, even if you just stated the obvious. ; -P Wanna go riding sometime soon?

Sra – I hope this chapter is longer, the other one was just pathetic!

Prince – Yeah well you try telling the story!

Sra – Do you remember what I said about Eliza?

Prince – Yes...

Sra – All right then tell the story.

Prince – mumbles incoherently

"Beautiful isn't it?"

I could understand why she was so amazed by the countryside. Heck I was too when I first saw it. But I wasn't looking at the scenery. I was looking at her. I think she noticed too, for she blushed a shade of crimson I had never seen before. As I nudged my hunter into a slow trot we traveled in silence for a while. My knights knew when to talk and when to keep silent.

When we reached the inn we had been staying at I slid to the ground and lifted her from the saddle with little problem. This girl was too light and needed food. Lots of it.

"Innkeeper! We require another room and some food!" I looked the girl over again. "A lot of food."

She blushed again and turned to follow the innkeeper up the stairs to her room. Damn, why did I always make her blush? But then again she did look quite becoming with her face scarlet. After seeing her door close I turned to my knights who, per usual, eating heartily.

Flopping into my chair I let out a large sigh. Which of course caught the attention of everyone at the table.

"Well, who is she?" was hissed at me more than once.

My eyes once again found their way to her door.

"I don't know." (A/N: I considered ending it here, but it looked too short.)

The knights seemed to realize that I knew nothing of interest and went back to their meal. By the end of the night they were very drunk. Good thing that we only had to go a couple of miles, they would all have mind numbing headaches in the morning.

After making sure that all of them found their beds safely, and joking about things they won't remember doing, I softly knocked on the girl's door.

"Miss, is it all right if I come in?" When she didn't answer I thought she might be mad at me. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings earlier with the comment about food, it's just that I didn't want you to go hungry." After more silence I headed down the hall to my own room where I slipped between the sheets of my bed and dreamt of swans with crowns.

The next morning we traveled slowly to allow my guards' headaches to alleviate. When this didn't happen we pressed on at a slightly faster pace. I kept making sure that the girl was holding on tight enough to ease my mind that she wasn't just some phantom that was toying with my mind.

Keenly aware of the silence I started talking, hoping beyond hope that she would answer me today.

"You'll love the city and the palace. I'll make sure that you're comfortable, and I'll see you every so often. I'm really busy you see and I don't know when I can get away." At this point I paused to see if she was going to answer. After a while I gave up and concentrated on guiding my horse through the crowds of people swarming the gates to the city.

When we were through the gates a man approached us.

"Hello there! The name's Wiggins, Walter Wiggins. And I have the perfect thing for the little lady there. This is a genuine gold and diamond rope necklace; I got it from the Prince's mistress herself. Said that the Prince gave it to her."

Oh yeah, this is something I should've mentioned. There was a rumor flying around the city that since I couldn't decide on a princess I had turned to the arms of a common whore for my...erm... manly needs.

"I hardly doubt that it is genuine, and was this 'lady' reputed for being honest? Really you should check into these things. You don't want to be selling cheap knockoffs of such fine jewelry." I replied with if I must say, terrific self-control. Considering I wanted to rip his head off for suggesting that I would even consider having a mistress. But for the sake of my cover in the city I couldn't say anything.

The man stalked off looking upset and angry at me for saying that he would sell cheap jewelry that wasn't quite up to par. Shaking my head I set my horse into a easy walk and headed up the palace road.

By the time we reached the Palace gates I don't think the girl's eyes could be any bigger. They were already the size of tea saucers and we weren't even through the front doors! Drawing up even to the front steps I dismounted and swung her down after me. Leaning over I whispered into her ear.

"Welcome to your new home."

A/N: Yes I know I'm evil and should have updated long ago, but life got busy. And please excuse my tendency to the profane (I like swearing!). Lots of fluff in this chapter, I didn't mean for that much but it happened.

In the next chapter we see the Prince's reaction to Eliza's reaction to palace life... I hope.


End file.
